Home

May 16, 2018

US aerospace major Boeing has said its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet
can help India grow its aerospace ecosystem which can be utilised for
its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft programme.

Boeing's current
F/A-18 production involves 60,000 jobs and 800 suppliers in 44 states in
the US and this can be replicated in India, Thom Breckenridge, vice
president, global sales, Boeing India, told PTI in an interview, as the
company seeks to enterb India's fighter jet bidding process.

Eyeing
the mega Indian Air Force's contract for 110 fighter jets, Boeing has
recently tied up with Mahindra Defence System and state-owned Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for producing F/A-18 Super Hornets.

Breckenridge said that the Super Hornet is a platform that is continuously evolving to outpace future threats.

"Every
two years, Boeing and its industry partners along with the US Navy work
on delivering new capabilities to the fighter. Critical mission systems
such as the radar, mission computers and sensors continue to evolve to
match up to the mission profiles of the future," he said.

As the
most advanced and lowest cost fighter per flight hour, the F/A-18 Super
Hornet will deliver next-gen superiority and survivability to India, he
said.

"By assembling, testing, and certifying this aircraft at a
state-of-the-art Factory of the Future in India, Boeing will help grow
the country's aerospace ecosystem," he said.

Observing that
Super Hornet brings the latest generation of technologies to the
warfare, he said that with designed-in stealth and robust capability
growth plan, it is the best aircraft to get to India's Advanced Medium
Combat Aircraft programme.

"Boeing is also committed to
expanding its partnership by producing Super Hornets in India, further
developing the country's aerospace ecosystem. Boeing will work closely
with Indian industry to ensure they have the very latest technologies,
applying lessons learned from the current Super Hornet production line,"
he said.

Boeing, he said, is prepared to bring its global scale
and supply chain, its best-in-industry precision manufacturing
processes, as well as the company's unrivaled experience designing and
optimising aerospace production facilities to both expand India's
aerospace ecosystem and help realise the 'Make in India' vision.

He
said that Boeing and its current industry partners are having robust
discussions with suppliers in India about building Super Hornets.

"We
have talked to over 400 Indian companies as part of our partner
evaluation process for various systems and subsystems of Super Hornet,"
Breckenridge said.

Responding to a question on Boeing's
partnership with Mahindra Defense Systems (MDS) and HAL, he said that
this is to deliver affordable, combat-proven fighter capabilities with
growth potential for the Indian warfighter and industrial capability to
build India's aerospace industry.

"We
have taken a dual approach of making equity and non-equity investments
as part of our partner strategy for India. Boeing will continue to
invest millions of dollars in supplier development, training, tooling
and quality systems and skill development at our Indian suppliers,"
Breckenridge said.